KOHO Review: Budget, Spend, and Save Smartly

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KOHO is a reloadable card and app that is made for Canadians to help them budget, spend, and save smartly.

KOHO is not another bank. No, they don’t want any of that complication. Having to pay fees at every turn? Yuck! That’s neither trendy or geeky, and it’s definitely not financially savvy, which is what KOHO is all about.

About KOHO

KOHO is a Canadian fintech company launched in 2017 by Daniel Eberhard. One of their goals is to save Canadians from the exorbitant banking fees we pay on a monthly basis – some of the highest in the world!

Also, the company wants to make budgeting and saving easier so average Canadians can up their financial game without needing to drastically change their lifestyle.

Because KOHO is not a bank, they have partnered with Visa and Peoples Trust (a federally regulated company) to hold the funds you load on your card

How KOHO Works

KOHO offers a reloadable (prepaid) Visa Card and a versatile app that integrates with the card and helps you budget effortlessly, spend knowledgeably, and save automatically.

Opening an account takes less than 5 minutes. When setting up your account, you get to choose a Visa Card that more or less works like a debit card and gives you the ability to spend, while also encouraging savings – aka “a smart spending account.”

In order to start using your card, the easiest way to deposit funds is by using e-Transfer. You can also set up direct load to also put all, or a portion of, your paycheque on your KOHO card.

After loading the card, you are ready to roll! Whether you want to pay for coffee, groceries, or your monthly bills, the KOHO card does it all. Not only that, the app provides easy-to-understand insights into your spending patterns, lets you set savings goals, and helps you reach them.

2. 0.5% Cash-Back on Purchases: Your traditional bank does not reward you when you use your debit card. Which means that unless you are banking with an online-only bank like Tangerine, the concept of earning interest on your chequing, or in KOHO’s case, earning cash-back rewards when spending your “cash,” is surprising.

KOHO gives you a 0.5% cash-back bonus (aka PowerUps) every time you spend, meaning that you do not need a credit card to enjoy loyalty rewards!

3. Automated Savings: The KOHO app allows you to set savings goals and helps you reach your goals. For example, say you want to save $1,500 for a vacation that is 6 months away, the app will show you how much you need to save on a daily (weekly, monthly) basis and debit that amount every day, so you can meet your savings target. Smart, eh?

In addition, KOHO also supports one of the savviest saving strategies ever invented – the RoundUp! Similar to Mylo and Wealthsimple, the KOHO app allows you to save some money every time you make a purchase by rounding-up your spending to the nearest $1, $5, or $10, and saving the difference.

For example, let’s say you purchase a cup of coffee for $2.25, the app will automatically SAVE $0.75 (rounding up to the nearest $1), or $2.75 (if rounding up to the nearest $5), or $7.75 (if rounding up to the nearest $10).

4. Real-Time Insights: Have you ever wondered where all your money goes at the end of the month? KOHO shows your spending categories and how much goes to what. It also shows how your spending compares to other KOHO users.

With these cold-hard spending facts at your fingertips, you can better budget and take the important financial steps that are pertinent to reaching financial freedom.

5. Versatile App: Their app makes it easy to accomplish multiple tasks you would normally need your bank for. For example, you can easily set up payroll deposits, transfer money into your investment accounts, automate your bill payments, and more.

The live in-app support chat function is invaluable. You can reach real customer service reps between 9am-5:30pm EST seven days a week.

6. Financial Coaching: You can access free financial advice through the app when you have direct payroll deposit setup. Have a question about investing, debt, savings or budgeting? The answers are now at your fingertips.

6. Referral Program: They have a generous referral program. Whenever you refer a friend to sign up, you both receive a bonus – up to $60 per referral ($20 when they sign up and conduct their first transaction, and an additional $40 when they set up payroll deposit of at least $500).

Is KOHO Right For You?

Save More Money: As shown by data collected from KOHO users, “the average KOHO user reduces their spending by 15% and saves nearly $500” within the first 3 weeks following sign-up. This is because the service brings you closer to your money. You get real-time information and see how your money is being spent – this helps you budget better. The savings plan and RoundUp features are also very practical.

Need to save for a wedding, vacation, emergency fund, etc.? A KOHO account is great for reaching your money goals.

Save on Fees: if you want to pay less in banking fees, online banking options (like Tangerine and EQ Bank) and non-bank options (like KOHO) can help. While KOHO may not meet all your banking needs, they can help you save a lot in fees.

Traveling: You can use your KOHO card outside of Canada and save on foreign transaction fees. Most credit cards/banks charge a flat 2.5% or more for this fee, however, when you use your KOHO card abroad, you only pay 1.5%. You can use your card to book hotels, rent cars, shop online and in-store, and more.

Comfortable With Online Banking: People are busy these days and desire convenience and this is what KOHO provides. If you love or are comfortable with conducting financial transactions using your phone or tablet, KOHO is a great choice.

Two downsides to using KOHO that are worth mentioning include:

KOHO does not fully replace your bank. For your investing needs e.g. TFSA, RRSP, and RESP accounts, you will need to look elsewhere. With that being said, if your investing accounts are with Wealthsimple, KOHO makes it easy to directly fund your accounts using their app. They also have further app integrations in the works to make your banking easier.

There are limits on how much you can load on your KOHO card as well as daily transaction limits. For example, the maximum card balance is $20,000, there’s a $3,000 daily limit on transactions, and the daily ATM withdrawal limit is $600. In my opinion, these limits are reasonable and will not pose any problems to the average user.

Some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

As per their website, they have partnered with the Peoples Trust Company to hold your funds. Peoples Trust is based in Vancouver and is CDIC-insured. They also have offices in Calgary and Toronto.

How Does KOHO Make Money?

When I first heard about KOHO and that they do not charge monthly fees, this was my first question. As per KOHO, they are able to operate without charging fees because Visa shares some of the commissions they receive from merchants with KOHO when you use their card to make payments or purchases in-store and online. These commissions are also referred to as interchange fees. It is part of these interchange fees that they return to you via their 0.5% cash-back feature. WIN-WIN!

Will using KOHO Affect Your Credit Score?

No, the prepaid KOHO Visa card is not a credit card and does not impact your credit score one way or another.

KOHO Referral Code?

You need to use the referral code of an existing KOHO client if you want to receive the $60 bonus. KOHO has kindly provided my readers with the referral code FREEDOM20 which can be used for an unlimited number of times! To utilize this opportunity, download the app via this link and then enter FREEDOM20 when prompted.